The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1887-07-20
A DANGEROUS DBLUSION.
THE PERFECT HOLINESS THEORY DIS
CUsSED.
Sermon by Rev. }. q. Lindsay, ID. ID

"Fnr the flesh lustrth against the spirit anu th'
spirit against the flesh. .'-Gal. v: II.
| wish to speak In this discourse of the Per
| frctiuniSni, the Perfect Holiness doctrine thai
is so Zcalously propagatcd in certain quarters
and which is so fascinating To some minds
but which am obliged TO regard as danger
Gus deluSiOn.
In every true Christian there are two great
| moral principles opposed To each other, I'll
Lcctly antaSoniStic: the one Is cnllcd "tne m oh
man" 1.-The ilesh,' "thc natural man. the
! Adam nature; the other is called "the new
man." "thc spiritual man" which Is produced
and iostcred by the Holy Spirit. There can
be no compromise, no reconciliation he
tween these two principles: they arc in dead
| lv conflict. When the old nature gets tho
| mystery, rs it sOmtimcs does, the man Is
plunged In sin. loses his hope, his evidences
! OF acceptance and Is filled with fears ano
doubts and dreadful apprehcnSions. The text
presents his struggle with great plainncsS
| the flesh lusteth against the spirit and the
spirit against the flesh; and these are contra
| ry, the one to the other, so that ye cnnnot nc
the things that ye would. This conflict goes
on through ali the Christians earthly career
and will not close till life ends. Hence he Inns
what we may call n dual consciousness
| When he looks into his heart, he Is some
times conscious of right feelings and pure IN
tentlons; that he is sincere and honest: and
| then again lie sees within him wrong motives
and sinful tempers, and much that God can
not approve, but must condemn. This double
character runs through his whole experience
cleaves to him through all his earthly hlsto
ry, and he Will be free from It only when he
enters the heavenly state.
There are those who teach differently. They
may be good Christian men; i don't call III
question the purity Of their motives. Ihey
| tell us that we may be entirely sanctifed IN
this life; that by n simple effort OF our fret
will we may step Mt once into state Whert
we will he free from al! sin-he perfectly holy
| I say this view OF Christian experience. thi.
pprfrctionism is not only not supported, bu'
expressly condemned in the Scriptures. :.
In entering upon this discussion, let 1t bt
promised that the question is not as TO the
duty OF believers. All admit that we are
bound TO be perfect rs our Father In heaven
Is perfect. Nor is 1t q question as to the com
mand Of God, for the first original com
mand. universally binding, which never
has been and never can be revoked, Is that
we should love the Lord our God with al
our heart, and soul, and mind, and strength
question concern the provisions of the gospel
| 1t Is admitted that the gospel provides all
that Is needed for the complete Sancttfication
and salvation of all Gods people. We have
in Christ. his spirit, his word and his ordi
nunces, all we can need for eflectng these
ends. Nor again does the question concern
the promises of God for they certainly en-
courage the hope of final delverance from al
make any Of his people perfectly holy In this
life. any more than he will make them per
rcctly happy or perfectly glorious. We read
lily admit that God can make his people holy
before as we'll as after death. He is able u
do It, We are not to limit his power But II
is mere question of fact, does he do it?
Will he do it? Iunswer In the negative.
The first argu1ment present is 4nby1T deriyen
laws respect generally the external conduct
Of mon aud takes but little notice Of the stat &c
Of the heart; sometimes they accommodate
themselves to human weakness and ignor.
ance. But unlike all these Gods law is spir.
itual, is Exceeding broah," reaches to tn"
heart, marking every movement OF the soul,
even the most hidden, and lis demands are
ineyorable and immutabe. This law is set
any want Of conformity to this even in the
least particular, is SIN. Anything less than
this rigid unchanging demand would be un.
worthy OF the great and holy One, the Su.
premc God, the Governor Of the worlds.
Anything less than loving God suprcmcly.
anything less than perfect obedience to his
holy, just and good law, Is sin. Absolute ho'
illness Is conformity in every particular To
When q man is thus cOnfOrmcd TO the law OF
God In every part of his moral nature, free
from every defect with all holy affections i'm
full exercise, then, and not till then, will he
be completely sanctiied. Only then will he
have perfect holiness. How Is It possible for
n man TO believe that he Is perfectly sancii-
fled u he has any proper view OF the spirlln-
ulity Of that great rule by which he Is gov
erned now, and by which he Is 10 be judged
ut the last day?
.. derive IL second argument from our
want OF ability 10 obey the law of God. Man
before the fall could obey perfectly the law OF
God. lie had the moral strength TO render
the obedience that WAS required. The an.
gels in heaven have that ability, but hllrn
man has nOt-nOt even when renewed ny the
Spiritand brought into II state of grace. II
was to those who were in gracious state
That the Saviour said, "withOut me ye can
do nothing" ard II is said they are not SUN
ricnt of themselves to think anything rs
:hcy ought. Those who know most of them
selves, know that they have natures that arc
morally depravcd, without strength, unable
TO obey The law of God. Those who have the
cl"arc>t Insight into the workings OF thclr
souls, who have the fullest view OF the plague
of their own hearts. know the truth OF this
"No mere man since the fail is able in this
life perfectly to keep the commands or COL
but doth daily break them. In thought, word
and decd" If this Inability belongs to men
to the best of men, TO rcgcncratc men, Ia
Christian men, then how is IL possible fol
them to have perfect sanctiflration?
3. / ind Il third argument In the fact that
the Scriptures expressly assert that all men
are sinners. This docs not mean that all men
were sinners before their conversion, but the
meaning is that they have sin cleaving &c
them as q feature Of their moral state. Tho
wise man said. "thcre is not Just man on
earth that doeih good and sinneth not" Sol
onion said In his prayer at the dedication o
the temple, "thcre is no man that sinneth
not" James says "in many things we offend
ALL" Thc"wc' in that sentence includes him
self and the Christian people to whom the
epistlc is addressed, and he means to assert
that all Christian people come short OF obey
ing the great standard Of right. There arc
many expressions that contain thr same gen
eral thought, A. all have sinnel and come
short of the glory Of Go'l, no f1"Sh living u
justified In the sight Of God and every one
mouth In the dust in the sight of the Infinite.
ly holy God. These passages refer to all men
without exception, To Jews and Gcntilcs, 10
renewed and unrenewed, TO babes In Christ
Il ,t,,rn '1,rfSf
ready to confess their sins, to dcrlore Their
moral weakness, to acknowledge their short:
comin.S, to say with Peter 81 AIN II sinful
man." or with Job "hchnld am vilc.' Very
much Of tic experiences OF Gods people. rs
detailed in the Scriptures, Is taken mp with
these confessions. And there Is not in the
whole Bible n ease where Il Christian thanks
Bod that he is wholly delivered from the pres.
sure and power Of sin and has attained to per-
feet holiness. If such thing wore ntialna-
BILE, how is it that We do not find 1t among
Bible Christians. And If any one ever attain
cd It in Bible times, how is it that il w;tS not
recorded or that no record OF 1t has come
down to US.
4. The fourth argument is found In tho i'm
perfccti0nS that belong to the very hest OF
men. There is no effort made by the sacred
writer's to set forth Gods people collectively
or in any individual instance as perfect. AS
their lives are presented to us by the pen OF
inspiration they had their faults. their sins;
so It. was with Noah and Job and Moses and
Abraham and David and Hezeliiah and Peter
and John and Paul. These are the very best
specimens of Bible Christians In them di.
vine grace did her perfect work; and God
honorcd them to do great things in building
up his Kingdom, yet it was never claimed that
they, were fully sanctifcd, but on the other
hand expressly mentioned that they commit.
led sin. There arc those who claim to ho
perfectly holy. Are they better than Noah
who walked with God. or better than Abra-
ham who was the friend Of God, or better
than Moses, the meekeSt man, or better than
Gods own hcart?" Isn't the claim a most
preposterous one. how can people be SO awful